Hilding L. Jacobson, Jr. was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1920 and received his commission in 1941 when he graduated from college. He entered active duty in June of 1941 as an infantry platoon leader with the 63rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
In June 1942, he entered flight training and was sent to transition to the B-25 Medium Bomber upon graduation. By the late summer or early fall of 1943, he was assigned as a pilot to the 501st Bomb Squadron, 345th Bomb Group in New Guinea.
From a letter home written by my uncle on November 30, 1943, Lt. Jacobson was the lead pilot on a B-25 that was crewed by my uncle as copilot and Lt. Stephen P. Toth as navigator that they had flown from California to New Guinea. That letter, which was addressed from APO 929 (Port Moresby, New Guinea) also mentions that while burning brush around their tent to control mosquitos, Lt. Jacobson was burned badly when the gasoline they were using ignited. I have no further documentation for that incident, but it could explain why Lt. Jacobson does not show up on mission load lists until March 1944. He could have been recovering from his burns during that time.
Lt. Jacobson was listed on forty-two missions from March 1944 through January 1945. His biography on the US Air Force website credits him with fifty-seven missions during WW2. The difference is undoubtedly due to the incomplete nature of my data.
Lt. Jacobson also served as the Operations Officer for the 501st Bomb Squadron and returned to the US in April of 1945. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War and remained in the Air Force until the mid-1970’s, when he retired as a Major General.
The artificial intelligence photo retouching application did an admirable job of sharpening his facial features but did not perform as well in the areas beyond his face. To my eye, there is quite a resemblance between the two photos.